


The Bite of a Cold Winter Night

by Machancheese



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Whipping, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25739500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Machancheese/pseuds/Machancheese
Summary: Will visits a crime scene alone and ends up hanging by a thread (actually a rope lol). Hannibal and the team save the day.
Relationships: Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 7
Kudos: 44





	The Bite of a Cold Winter Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ProcrastinatingSab](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProcrastinatingSab/gifts).



> One of my bestest friends was searching for some good whumpy whipping fics and I was in the mood to write some whumped Will and here we are this beautiful creation I hope you like it. It has not been beta-ed so sorry for mistakes.

The snow whipped around Will where he stood looking up at the latest victim. The man hung from a tree like a pinata his body beaten to a pulp, the rope tied around his torso. The corpse had been hanging there long enough to be frozen solid, though with the extremely low temperatures outside it could have been only a day or two. 

Whoever did this was looking for answers. They were trying to 'break open the pinata' to see what the victim was hiding inside. Once the killer got the 'candy' the shell was useless and left to hang.

The day came to a close with no steps towards who had done it.

Later that evening Will had scheduled an appointment with Dr. Lecter. The crime scene wasn't far from his office in Baltimore, so he planned to stop by and get a second look before he was expected at Dr. Lecter’s.

There was a heavy feeling in the air. The body is gone and taken away yet the weight of it still hanging in the space around Will. 

The dark woods around Will left him paranoid and anxious to get out of there. He deeply regretted the decision to go to the crime scene alone. Will was on the way back to the car when a tree branch snapped from his left. Turning his head Will saw a short man walking away into the trees, he curiously followed behind him.

Will was only a few trees away from the man when the black-feathered stag from his dreams stepped out in front of him as if it was begging for him to turn around and leave. Will shook it off, shutting his eyes, and continued forward, knowing the hallucination couldn't stop him if he couldn't see it.

After a moment he opened them again and found the man standing still, facing him with a big grin. 

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Will shouted out.

The man only let out a chuckle. 

Will took another step forward and something snatched his ankle sending his foot up and head down. 

Disoriented, it took a second for Will to see he was hanging upside down from a tree, the killer standing directly in front of him. Swiftly the stranger stabbed a needle into Will's strained neck.

Exhaustion rapidly consumed him making it impossible to fight. He wasn't completely unconscious, but neither his body nor his mind was willing to do anything to help the situation. 

“The Man I killed the other day, it was just supposed to be him. He stole something from me and I needed it back. To my surprise, I enjoy beating the shit out of people. I needed to feel that power again, let it consume me. As I hid watching the man's wretched corpse, seeing what the police would do. I saw you, the pain in your eyes as you looked up at the body, it was something sacred and I knew I needed to see that same pain again."

The killer suddenly cut Will down, sending him straight to the ground headfirst with a thump.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Hannibal was surprised when he opened his office door at seven o'clock on the dot and Will was not there. Will was never late. He was known to be early, sometimes even unannounced at odd times of the day, but never late. Yet Hannibal waited, slowly five minutes became ten, after fifteen minutes and still no sign of Will, he began to get worried. Either Will was ignoring him, which was a possibility, or something had happened that made him unable to attend the appointment.

Picking up his phone he dialed Will’s number. It went straight to voicemail. 

He let out a deep sigh before leaving a message. “Mr. Graham, it is very rude to not show up to an appointment without canceling. I know you are not asleep, it's only seven o’clock and as your physiatrist, I am well aware that you never go to bed before eleven. Please call me back when you get this message, I expect a good explanation as to why you didn’t tell me you were not coming. Goodnight Will.”

After hanging up, Hannibal got to work tidying up his office and collecting his possessions, before heading home for the night. He would just have to wait till tomorrow to see Will.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Will shivered, heading throbbing, moments ago he had awoken to his clothes gone beside his boxers, and hung from his arms instead of his foot, the rope tightly wrapping his wrists together. He was only about a foot off the ground, but it left all of his weight on his shoulders. The unidentified man was nowhere to be seen, but Will could see a duffle bag at the bottom of a nearby tree along with his discarded clothes.

Only a few minutes passed of Will desperately trying to get his arms free, before the Man returned.

“Great, you're awake. We don’t want you to get to numb before we can even start the fun part.” he turned to the duffle bag opening it up and shuffling through it.

“Wh-ho are y-you?” Will stuttered through his chattering teeth.

“Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself.” He apologized as he stood, pulling a thin leather whip out of the bag. “I’m Louis Robbins. Though it won’t really matter, you’ll most likely be dead by the time the sunrises and if you in some impossible way do, I’ll be long gone by then.”

“How d-did you know I’d come here?”

“I didn't. I just happened to have my car parked on the side of the road nearby getting ready for my second kill when you drove by and I knew it was fate. I had everything set up, and you walked right into my trap."

It was completely dark other than the moonlight shining through the trees and Will was starting to get worried he wasn't going to get out of this one. Unless someone miraculously came and saved him, he was done for.

Louis walked around behind Will. With him no longer in sight Will started to shake a bit harder, both from the cold biting at his skin, and the anticipation of what pain that was about to occur.  
  
The first hit came, startling him more than actually causing him pain, but Will wasn't given much time to think about anything else before the strikes came faster and harder. Each swing stung like a thousand small knives stabbing his back at once.

Will tried to hold back from letting out any sounds, knowing it would only satisfy Louis more, but it wasn't long before the pain became unbearable, blood slowly dripping down his legs and onto the ground. He let out whimpers at first, gradually turning in yells of pain. 

It felt like an eternity of bruising slashes before finally, it stopped. Will instantly sagged, letting all the tension go, relieved the man was done and he just had to make it through the freezing night. Sweat was mixing with the blood on Will's skin from the heat of the whole ordeal, but he knew it would only make him colder as the night went on.

"Fun isn't it?" Louis walked in front of Will giving him a grin. 

"You-you coul-could call it tha—" Will stuttered through his chattering teeth.

"We aren't done yet so don't get too excited." Unprovoked Louis started whipping Will’s chest, the new wounds stinging more than the deep ache coming from his back. 

Will surrendered, knowing there was nothing he could do, he let his head drop and mind drift off to what Hannibal always called his mind palace, in hopes of finding a safer place. 

_The river rushed around his legs protected by rubber boots. Abigail stood beside him, her smile wider than he had ever seen it. She held the fishing rod in hand, excited to find out what would be found at the end. The only sounds were cheerful chatter, the running stream, and birds singing in the trees. On the banks behind Abigail sat Hannibal, sketchpad in hand, he watched the pair silently._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hannibal awoke to his phone ringing. His clock read five forty-five, he was set to wake up in fifteen minutes anyway so he picked it up.

  
“Dr. Lecter.” He answered.

 _“Hannibal, it's Jack Crawford. We just got a call, there has been another body found out at the same location as yesterday. I tried to contact Will, but he isn’t picking up and I don’t have time to go get him. Do you think you could meet my team and I at the scene?”_ Hannibal was quickly informed.

“Of course, Will must be ignoring us. He didn't show up to his appointment yesterday and now he isn’t picking up his phone. I’ll have to stop by his place on my way back home and make sure he is ok.”

Hannibal stood, already picking out a suit. 

_“Thank you, Hannibal, I appreciate it. I will send you the address, it is not too far from Baltimore.”_

“Goodbye, Jack.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hannibal pulled off the street right behind Crawford’s black SUV. The first thing he noticed was Will’s car was also there, only a thick layer of snow covered his, meaning the car hadn’t moved in hours. He ran into the woods catching up with Jack and his team, who had arrived moments earlier. 

“Dr. Lecter, I am suspecting you saw the car?” Jack shouted back at him.

“Yes, we need to hurry. How deep is the crime scene?” Hannibal asked, jogging beside Jack.

“About five minutes from the road.” 

Hannibal sped up, passing Jack. He knew that if Will was still in the woods, time was of value if he wasn’t already dead. Soon enough a body hanging from a tree came into view, as he got closer Hannibal saw Will’s distinct curls.

Quickly and strategically Hannibal took in Will’s shredded form and retrieved his pocket knife from his coat. Will’s eyes were closed, head hanging limp, his lips, fingers, and toes blue. Ice and snow-covered his hair and everywhere where the blood had frozen. Hannibal sawed away at the rope, Jack and the team arriving behind him.

“Call an ambulance if you haven't already.” Hannibal calmly instructed.

The rope finally snapped sending Will into Hannibal’s arms. He fell to his knees holding Will close as the agents around him started handing him coats to wrap Will up with. It took longer than he would have liked to find a pulse on Will’s frozen neck. It was very faint and Will was barely breathing, but he was alive.

Scooping up the limp body, Hannibal got to his feet, his own cold aching bones begging him not to. He swiftly headed back towards the road. Jack followed, leaving his team to handle the scene. Hannibal held Will’s head close to his chest, purposefully keeping his warm breath on Will’s face. 

They arrived at the car's right as an ambulance pulled up. Two paramedics hopped out running to the back of the bus to get it open and start preparing supplies. Hannibal climbed in with their help, gently placing Will onto the gurney. 

Hannibal looked out the back of the ambulance where Jack stood in shock.

“Jack, go back to the crime scene and find out who did this. I’ll stay with him.” Hannibal instructed, even though Jack was supposed to be the one in charge. 

Jack simply nodded before turning away as a paramedic slammed the doors shut and the ambulance pulled away.

“I’m a doctor if you need any assistance.” Hannibal informed them, before taking a seat and catching his breath.

He watched as the doctors did their job, always keeping an eye on the monitor above Will.

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Cotten, that’s the only way he could describe it. His body felt as though a thick layer of cotton wrapped around each of his limbs, everything feeling muted. His mouth and throat felt drier than the Sahara, eyelids seeming impossibly heavy. 

Will tried to move, but quickly found that wasn’t an option, so he stayed still attempting to focus his hearing on something other than his heartbeat and the annoying, persistent beep from above him. It took a while, Will wasn’t sure how long exactly, but voices around him became apparent. 

Soon a familiar Lithuanian accent was found along with two other recognizable voices.

 _“It’s been three days Jack, Will wasn’t even remotely in good health before this, but now he is lucky to be alive. Use that big brain of yours and figure out that now is not the time to hope for Will to have a speedy recovery so he can get back to the field. He needs time and support, who knows what condition he will be in when he wakes up. And if I have any say in it I don’t think he should ever go back to the torture you put him through.”_ Alana furiously lectured Jack, when she was finished Will heard a door slam, telling him she had left.

 _“Do you think she’s mad?”_ Jack asked sarcastically.

 _“Jack, I would advise you to give both Alana and Will some space. Alana is desperately worried for Will’s sanity and health, you’ll just stress her out more. Will on the other hand is only going to feel more pressured to get back to work with you constantly standing over him, he won’t give himself time to heal properly. He needs to return when he is ready until then I assure you, I will be by his side helping in any way I can. Though remember Jack, in my eyes, Will’s life comes before anything else, even if that includes his job.”_ Hannibal insisted.

Will hadn’t noticed but while listening to the conversation he had successfully opened his eyes and was absently watching the pair. Hannibal sat calmly in a chair with Jack standing over him, facing away from Will. 

Jack gave up trying to converse with the psychiatrist and left the room with a simple goodbye and a request for Hannibal to call when Will regained consciousness. Will mentally laughed at that knowing that if Jack would just turn around he would see Will’s blue orbs staring back at him. 

The second the latch on the door clicked shut, Hannibal stood, eyes going straight to Will. He had apparently known the whole time that Will was awake. Hannibal had intended to get rid of the stress of having three pairs of eyes on him, before showing he was aware of Will's consciousness.

“Good afternoon Will.” Hannibal sat down on the edge of the bed, grabbing a cup of water from a table and bringing the straw to Will’s lips. Will weakly took a few small sips before the cup was returned to the table. 

“Are you in any discomfort?”

“No ‘m fine.” Will croaked. “Mm numb”

“Good, you will be pretty medicated for a while. Your body went through something very traumatic. Now I know I’m not your doctor but I prescribe lots of rest and many good meals made by yours truly.” Hannibal gestured to himself, smiling in an attempt to lighten the mood. Will gave him a weak grin in return before letting his eyes slip closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week later Will got the okay to go home. Alana and Hannibal had convinced him it would be difficult for him to live on his own for a bit, so they had come to the agreement that the pair would check up on him frequently and prepare meals for him. 

The day he got the ‘all good’ to go home, Will was under Hannibal’s care. He assisted in getting him discharged, into the car, and driving him home, already thinking of ideas for dinner. It was a painful ordeal, each movement causing his healing wounds to pull back apart. Hannibal took it slow, giving Will all the time in the world, but he didn’t want to take his time. Will wanted to be home in bed, buried under dogs and blankets, never to see the light of day again. 

Unfortunately under the care of Alana and Hannibal, he was forced to see the ‘light of day’ for at least thirty minutes a day and they made him get up and move several times throughout the day. Claiming it would help his recovery in the long run. He didn’t believe them, they just wanted to see him suffer more, but at the end of the day, he was grateful for the help.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a kudo and comment pease!!!!!!!


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